Keimyung University Selected by Ministry of Employment and Labor as Operator of "Job First Step Guarantee Center"

600 Million Won in Annual Government Funding... Aiming to Support Over 1,500 Unemployed Young People Each Year
Strengthening the Regional Youth Employment Hub with a Four-Stage Support System of "Recovery?Exploration?Preparation?Connection"

Keimyung University (President Shin Ilhee) has been finally selected as a university to operate the “Job First Step Guarantee Center” organized by the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

Through this nationwide employment safety net program, the university will receive 600 million won per year and serve as a regional hub for supporting youth employment.

Name stone at the main gate of Keimyung University Seongseo Campus. Provided by Keimyung University.

In January, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced a call for applications to select approximately 10 universities nationwide to operate the “Job First Step Guarantee Center.”

The first phase of the program will run from the date the support agreement is signed until February 2027, and, depending on performance evaluations, support may be extended for up to five years.

Each university will receive 600 million won annually, funded 100% by the national treasury, and each institution is required to support at least 1,500 young people per year, including a minimum of 750 local youths.

The core of the “Job First Step Guarantee Center” is to provide step-by-step support to young people according to their motivation for employment and level of readiness.

Based on a four-stage structure of “Recovery-Exploration-Preparation-Connection,” Keimyung University will establish an integrated support system that covers psychological and emotional recovery counseling, job exploration workshops, resume and interview clinics, and corporate matching linked to recommended recruitment.

The university plans to enhance tangible employment outcomes through customized program design tailored to each individual’s level of readiness.

The project will be carried out with the University Job Plus Center at its core.

The University Job Plus Center, which operates as an organization under the Vice President for Student Affairs, will integrate and manage all on-campus career and employment support functions, and enhance the effectiveness of the project by linking graduate-focused programs, customized employment services for current students, and collaborative systems with related regional institutions.

In particular, the university plans to strengthen a metropolitan-level youth employment support system by expanding the scope of support to include graduates from universities that do not operate a University Job Plus Center, as well as local youths.

Choi Haeun, head of the University Job Plus Center, said, “This selection is an official recognition of the performance of Keimyung University’s youth-tailored employment support system, which has been built up over a long period,” adding, “We will further advance our step-by-step services so that unemployed young people can receive seamless support from psychological recovery all the way to employment linkage.”

He added, “By expanding cooperation with local universities, companies, and employment-related institutions, we will play a central role in the regional youth employment ecosystem.”

Meanwhile, on January 2026, Keimyung University was selected for the 10th consecutive year as an excellent (top-grade) university in the annual performance evaluation of the University Job Plus Center program organized by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea Employment Information Service.

Since being selected as a pilot university for the University Job Center in 2015, Keimyung University has built a youth employment governance system as a key regional center in Daegu. It operates a wide range of youth-tailored employment support policies, including advanced career and employment counseling, mentoring by corporate employees and alumni currently in the field, hub-type specialized programs, job fairs linked with local universities and related institutions, recruitment-linked programs, and graduate-focused programs.